LAST WEEK: The Binghamton Senators (23-15-3-3, 52 pts.) grabbed two divisional points this past week with a shutout victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms to remain within two points of a playoff spot in the tight East Division standings.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21 vs. PHILADELPHIA (3-0 W): Netminder Martin Gerber posted a 32-save shutout to lead the B-Sens to the divisional win. Defenseman Tomas Kudelka buried his fourth marker of the season, a power-play tally. Right-winger Ryan Shannon collected two assists on the night and Marc Cavosie netted one goal and added one assist for Binghamton. The B-Sens put 40 shots on netminder Scott Munroe, including 15 in the final stanza to secure the shutout.

FRIDAY, JAN. 23 @ ALBANY (4-1 L): Penalties piled up for Binghamton as the River Rats converted on three power plays to earn the victory, including two 5-on-3 goals. Winger Michael Ryan buried two goals and added one assist to power the Albany attack. Josh Hennessy scored the lone goal for Binghamton, his 10th of the season. The River Rats scored three of their four goals in the final period. The B-Sens racked up 38 penalty minutes, tying a season high.

SATURDAY, JAN. 24 vs. HAMILTON (5-3 L): The B-Sens mounted a late comeback attempt that ultimately fell short against the North Division’s Hamilton Bulldogs. Josh Hennessy buried two goals, tying his career high, for Binghamton and Ilya Zubov netted one goal and one assist. Defenseman Matt Carkner chipped in two assists. Zubov scored with two minutes remaining in regulation to make it a 4-3 game before Kyle Chipchura netted an empty-net goal to seal the win for Hamilton. Netminder Jeff Glass allowed four goals in the losing effort.

THIS WEEK: The B-Sens travel to Texas for the first time in franchise history to take on the San Antonio Rampage (20-27-0-1, 41 pts.) on Thursday night followed by the Houston Aeros (21-18-1-7, 50 pts.) on Friday night. The B-Sens finish the weekend at home on Saturday night when they host the Springfield Falcons (16-22-6-1, 39 pts.). These are three of seven straight games against non-divisional opponents. The B-Sens are a combined 14-2-1-1 against the Atlantic, North and West Divisions.

THURSDAY, JAN. 29 @ SAN ANTONIO (8:00 p.m.): San Antonio has rebounded from a rocky start to the 2008-09 season to get within 10 points of a playoff position in the West Division. The Rampage are 7-3-0-0 over the last 10 games. Left-winger Jeff Hoggan has 17 markers to lead the Rampage. Netminder Josh Tordjman has 18 wins, good for third in the AHL. Former B-Sen Alexander Nikulin has five goals, nine assists and a -12 rating in 36 games with San Antonio.

FRIDAY, JAN. 30 @ HOUSTON (8:35 p.m.): The B-Sens faced the Aeros for the first time in franchise history on Jan. 2 in Brian Elliott’s final start before his recall to Ottawa. Elliott posted a 21-save shutout for his 18th win of the season and Ryan Shannon had one goal and one assist to lead the B-Sens to a 4-0 win. Corey Locke leads the Aeros in goals (17), assists (30) and points (47). Houston is currently tied with Rockford for second place in the West Division. Current B-Sen Marc Cavosie was a rookie on Houston’s 2003 Calder Cup Championship team.

SATURDAY, JAN. 31 vs. SPRINGFIELD (7:05 p.m.): The B-Sens face the Falcons for the 19th time in franchise history to close out the month of January. Springfield swept the season series last year, downing Binghamton 5-3 in Springfield and 5-2 at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. Netminder Devan Dubnyk has been a workhorse in net for the Falcons. He currently leads the AHL in games played (40), minutes (2307), shots against (1193) and saves (1083). Former Phantoms center Ryan Potulny leads the offense for Springfield with 19 goals and 33 points.

SENS SNIPPETS:

Josh Hennessy’s two goals against Hamilton on Saturday night give him 61 goals as a B-Sen, one behind Antoine Vermette (62) and two behind Jeff Heerema (63).

Defenseman Mattias Karlsson had three assists and a +4 rating to help the PlanetUSA All-Stars to a 14-11 victory over the Canadian All-Stars on Monday night.

The B-Sens are 14-2-1-0 when leading after the first period.

The B-Sens are a perfect 9-0-0-0 when scoring four goals in a game.

Ryan Shannon has eight assists in the last nine B-Sens’ games.

Binghamton plays 10 straight Wednesday games to close out the 2008-09 season beginning on Feb. 4.

B-SENS PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

Tuesday, Jan. 27 OFF - All-Star break

Wednesday, Jan. 28 No practice - travel day

Thursday, Jan. 29 @ San Antonio

Friday, Jan. 30 @ Houston

Saturday, Jan. 31 No practice - travel day

*All practice times and locations subject to change without notice*

B-SENS LEADERS:

POINTS: Shannon (10+23=33)

GOALS: Hamel (14)

ASSISTS: Shannon (23)

POWER-PLAY GOALS: Hamel (8)

SHORT-HANDED GOALS: Bois (2)

GAME-WINNING GOALS: Hamel (5)

SHOTS: Hamel (144)

WINS: Glass (3)

SAVES: Glass (392)

GAA: Gerber (3.73)

SAVE PERCENTAGE: Gerber (.889)

B-SENS ON THE AIR: Catch all the action LIVE on WINR 680-AM & WENE 1430-AM, via webcast or streaming video cast at www.ahllive.com